The present invention relates to the field of online publishing, and more particularly to a method, apparatus, and business system for online publishing and distribution of books and other serial works.
The internet enables the mass distribution of information and data, including copyrighted works such as pictures, written works, and computer programs. The term used for copying data from a server computer via the internet to a user""s home computer is called xe2x80x9cdownloadingxe2x80x9d.
Data that is available for downloading from the internet includes free data and data that must be paid for. A typical paradigm used by a business that supplies data over the internet is to provide a limited version of the data for free, and to provide a more full-featured version of the data for a fee. A typical example is software. Companies that distribute software over the internet typically provide a free version of a software program and a version that must be paid for. The free version often provides the same basic functionality as the paid-for version, but does not include all the bells and whistles of the paid-for version, or is operable for only a limited period of time. The marketing philosophy is to provide the free version to as many users as possible with the hope that a significant portion of them will like the program and want to upgrade to the more sophisticated features of the paid-for version.
Although the above-described system works well for data that comprises works such as software programs where the more sophisticated paid-for version provides distinct benefits over the free version, the prior art system does not work well for data that comprises works that are made of serial data such as a novel or a multimedia story. For this kind of data, although it is also possible to produce both limited (i.e. abridged) and complete versions, it is less likely that a user who uses (i.e. reads, hears, sees or otherwise experiences or perceives) a limited version of a novel or story will thereafter want to purchase the more detailed version, especially if the novel or story contains an element of suspense that is resolved at the end of both the abridged and full-length versions. If the user has already found out how the story unfolds from the abridged version, there is little motivation to pay for the full-length version of that novel or story.
It is possible to provide only a portion of the novel, book or other work to the user and require the user to pay to obtain the remaining portion. However, if works were distributed in this manner users would tend to be reluctant to invest their time in reading the free part of the work if they know that they will only learn how the story turns out if they pay to get the remaining part of the work.
What is needed is a method that allows the free distribution of a serial work such as a novel or story over the internet while still providing an incentive to purchase the same work.
The present invention comprises a method for distributing a serial work such as a novel, story, book, or other single-media or multi-media serial work over a communications network such as the internet in a manner that provides the entire work to users for free, while still providing an incentive for users to purchase the work. Instead of distributing a limited free version and a more complete paid-for version as in the prior art, in the present invention, the content of the free and the paid-for versions are substantially the same. The thing that is different, however, is the time period over which the entire work is delivered.
The present invention may be used with works that consist of serial data that can be divided into discrete portions. An example is a novel that is divided into chapters. In one embodiment of the invention, portions are provided for free to the users over a period of time. For example, a chapter of a novel may be provided every week for free, for example by being posted on an internet web site for downloading, by being sent to the user by e-mail, or by other appropriate methods. If a novel has fifty-two chapters, for example, it would take an entire year (52 weeks) to provide the entire novel to users for free.
If the user wishes to obtain the novel more quickly, however, the user can at any time pay to receive the entire novel immediately. The user is more apt to begin reading the free chapters of the novel because the user knows that the user can always, by waiting long enough, obtain the novel in its entirety for free. On the other hand, if the user desires, the user can get the entire novel immediately by paying a fee. In one embodiment of the invention, the fee decreases with time, so that the fee to buy the entire work is dependent on the amount of the work not yet distributed for free.